This invention relates to a control apparatus/method for an electric oil pump, and more specifically to a control apparatus/method for an electric oil pump suitable when a brushless motor is used for driving the electric oil pump in an oil pump system.
A hybrid vehicle arranged to be driven by a gasoline engine and an electric motor has been developed in view of improvement in improving fuel economy of a vehicle and environment issues. The hybrid vehicle performs an idling stop control to stop the engine when the vehicle stops. Moreover, some gasoline vehicles perform the idling stop control.
The vehicle which performs the idling stop control includes an oil pump driven by an engine and an electric oil pump driven by a motor for ensuring a hydraulic pressure for an oil lubricating system for a transmission, and a hydraulic pressure for driving an actuator such as a clutch for driving a running motor.
During the idling stop, the electric oil pump arranged to be driven by the motor is started in place of the oil pump driven by the stopped engine so as to ensure the hydraulic pressure supply at the stop of the vehicle. With this, it is possible to smoothly perform the next start of the vehicle.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-161850 discloses an oil supply apparatus for a vehicle which is arranged to perform the idling stop control, and in which a target torque of a motor for driving an electric oil pump is varied in accordance with states of the vehicle.